BILL NUMBER: AJR 71 AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 10, 2004 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 5, 2004 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Wolk (Coauthors: Assembly Members Dutton, Kehoe, Matthews, Mountjoy, Nakano, Parra, Runner, Salinas, Wiggins,and Wyland)Wyland, Aghazarian, Bates, Benoit, Berg, Bermudez, Bogh, Calderon, Campbell, Canciamilla, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cogdill, Cohn, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Daucher, Diaz, Dutra, Dymally, Firebaugh, Frommer, Garcia, Goldberg, Hancock, Harman, Jerome Horton, Shirley Horton, Houston, Jackson, Keene, Koretz, La Malfa, La Suer, Laird, Leno, Leslie, Levine, Lieber, Longville, Lowenthal, Maddox, Maldonado, Maze, McCarthy, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nation, Negrete McLeod, Nunez, Oropeza, Pacheco, Pavley, Plescia, Reyes, Richman, Ridley-Thomas, Samuelian, Simitian, Spitzer, Strickland, Vargas, and Yee) MARCH 23, 2004 Assembly Joint Resolution No. 71--Relative to veterans health care. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AJR 71, as amended, Wolk. Veterans health care. This measure would request the President and Congress of the United States to enact appropriate legislation to provide a guaranteed level of funding for veterans health care, and to restore medical benefits eligibility for veterans in Priority Group 8. This measure would also urge the Department of Veterans Affairs to seek out eligible veterans to provide them with benefits information. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, The level of funding for the federal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care under the annual federal budget is within the discretion of Congress; and WHEREAS, Section 1710(a) of Title 38 of the United States Code provides that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs "shall" furnish hospital care and medical services, but only to the extent Congress has provided money to cover the costs of care; and WHEREAS, Federal law charges the VA with a duty to seek out eligible veterans and their family members, and to provide them with information and assistance to ensure that they apply for all available VA benefits and services; and WHEREAS, Veterans have earned the right to VA medical care through their extraordinary sacrifices and service to this Nation; and WHEREAS, Veterans enrolling in the medical benefits package are classified in enrollment priority groups, with Priority Group 1 having the highest priority and Priority Group 8 having the lowest priority; and WHEREAS, The cumulative effects of continuing shortfalls in health care funding and the lack of outreach to advise veterans of the health care resources to which they may be entitled has now resulted in the rationing of health care, including the suspension of new enrollment of veterans assigned to Priority Group 8 and curtailed enrollment to many other veterans; and WHEREAS, Veterans in Priority Group 8 include many seniors who are residents of California and are unable to afford medical care, mentally ill, or homeless, and unaware of their rights as veterans; and WHEREAS, When veterans cannot get needed health care services from the VA when they go elsewhere, shifting the cost of care to state welfare and Medicaid programs or other safety net hospitals where society pays more and the patient suffers; and WHEREAS, The Veterans Health Administration is the most efficient and cost-effective health care system, providing care for 25 percent to 30 percent less than comparable Medicare services; and WHEREAS, Even though the VA serves a population of veterans who are older, sicker, and have a higher prevalence of mental and behavior health problems, it does so at well below Medicare rates; and WHEREAS, Many veterans need and depend on the VA health care system and its specialized services concerning prosthetics, posttraumatic stress disorder, spinal cord injury, and blind rehabilitation to treat their service-connected disabilities and meet their unique health care needs; and WHEREAS, The proposed 2004-05 federal budget does not provide the necessary funding to adequately provide health care to all of our veterans; and WHEREAS, Making veterans' health care mandatory would ensure the government meets its obligation to provide timely, quality health care to all veterans eligible for care in the VA health care system; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Assembly and Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature respectfully urges the President and Congress of the United States to amend Title 38 of the United States Code to provide a guaranteed level of funding for veterans health care and to require that medical benefits package eligibility be restored for veterans in Priority Group 8; and be it further Resolved, That the Legislature urges the federal Department of Veterans Affairs to carry out its duties to seek out eligible veterans and their family members, and to provide them with information and assistance to ensure that they apply for all available VA benefits and services; and be it further Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, the Senate Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Congress, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chairman of the United States Committee on Veterans Affairs, each member of the California Delegation to Congress, and to the author for appropriate distribution.